A serious and sometimes not so serious personal blog
Posts about living and daily life in New York City.
This was last Tuesday, December 5th, around 5:20 PM heading north on I-278 near Cobble Hill in Brooklyn.
Besides being disrespectful to passengers, I didn’t think this kind or amount of political messaging was allowed on TLC licensed vehicles. Imagine ordering an Uber and having this show up. I wouldn’t want to get in and then I’d have to go through the hassle of disputing the cancellation fee.
I’ve never eaten at either spot, but can you imagine the drama that had to happen before the Pizzeria at 36 St Mark’s put up that sign? It must have been something to see.
Also, it’s just good manners to not sit down at a restaurant and eat food from a different restaurant there.
By the way, Udon West is open again, but under another name: Udon St. Mark’s. The place looks exactly the same inside and has the same menu as before as far as I remember. Maybe it’s a little cleaner, but it’s the same ambience. I kind of wonder if they didn’t have a fire and just needed time to renovate.
In any case, I’m glad they’re not temporarily closed for renovations forever like Two Little Red Hens on 2nd Ave and 86th St.
It’s nicer at night, when you can see the Empire State Building lit up, but it’s nice that there are certain sections of the FDR and other highways in New York City that offer worthwhile views of the city that you can’t get while on foot.
I left work early today for an appointment in the Financial District. There’s no parking down there so I parked on the Lower East Side and, rather than take the bus, I decided to walk to get some exercise and to enjoy the sites and sounds of the city for a change.
Usually I’m rushing from place to place, but I planned a nice buffer between leaving the office and my appointment and I got lucky with parking, so I had almost two hours to spend on myself before I needed to check in at the dentist. I was thinking about something my wife told me about how I never take time to just walk around alone and enjoy myself.
I got lucky and found some really interesting art.
It’s a shame that most of it is painted on temporary barriers, but I guess that will make way for something new when they come down.
This art is located at 33 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003 (along Houston St) in First Street Green Cultural Park.
My wife and I were watching a movie and we started to hear this banging noise from the hallway. When it went on for more than a few minutes, I stuck my head out the door to see what was going on and I saw this skinny crackhead looking dude in a heavy black coat banging on a door down the hall with some kind of tool.
I looked at him and he looked at me and he didn’t even care. He just kept banging on that door.
While I was looking down the hallway, the super’s wife opened her door across the hall and I waved her back inside and told her someone is breaking into an apartment down the hall. I took one more look at the guy and shut the door and called the police.
I placed that phone call at 5:50 PM.
We listened to the guy hitting the door and using what sounded like a hammer and chisel for about ten minutes. Then we got bored and went back to watching our movie.
Twenty minutes later, we heard an altercation in the hallway so I went and looked again and the building super was running the guy off.
The police never showed up. I called 911 again and asked why the police hadn’t responded to a report of a man hammering his way through the door of an apartment. The operator told me that the “job [was] in the system” and she wasn’t sure why there was a delay in my area.
I could only say, “very reassuring” and ended the call.
The NYPD finally responded an hour after my first call. One hour. The criminal got away because the NYPD failed to respond in a timely fashion, which means the guy will probably be back. What if he had attacked someone in the hallway?
Thankfully, the door held. Even if there was no one home, no one deserves to have all of their property stolen or vandalized, or to possibly have pets injured because the NYPD was too busy eating donuts to respond to a call. We’re supposed to trust them to help us when we need them but how can we?
They don’t show up for 311 calls for noise or huge numbers of double and triple parked cars blocking the road, or parked on the sidewalk. They don’t show up for a crime in progress. Will they really show up and save you?
You can’t rely on the police to save you or even to help you, only to write a report about how you got wasted after the fact. We need more 2A friendly laws in New York City so regular citizens don’t become victims due to lax policing and even laxer sentencing.
Last Tuesday I got stuck in traffic while trying to get to work because of an accident. I was late to work the previous week for the exact same thing, so I had to take photos this time to make sure my boss knew I wasn’t bullshitting her.
I figured they’re worth sharing. The weirdest thing about the accident to me is that the person in the smaller vehicle looks like some old lady that just rolled out of her living room to yell at some kids for being noisy in the street.
This section of 287 is rough. People get into car accidents there all the time because of cars veering from the left lane into the middle lane to cut the hard left exit onto 27 East, Prospect Expressway, followed immediately by people merging into the highway from 3rd Ave and then everyone opening it up on the straightaway if possible to make up time before the Belt Parkway split.
287 is called the Gowanus (‘Go anus’) Expressway, which adds some comic relief to getting screwed by bad traffic backups there regularly, but during the school year traffic is so bad that I’m thinking about taking the train to work instead, even though the trip would be 1.5 hours each way.
We parked on Riverside Drive and then rode up and down the Hudson River Greenway this afternoon. It was nice to get outside and feel the sun. The riverfront was packed with people, which was great because one of the best things about riding in New York City is people watching. It’s kind of weird when you pass someone else doing the same thing, though, because you both look at each other as you go by. It’s nice to see so many people out picnicking or just sitting in the shade and reading or talking. I wish I had more time to just sit and enjoy the day like that, so I’m glad we’re taking advantage of the time we have. Especially with this being New York City, where summers are way too short.
We saw one of the red tailed hawks sitting on a railing at Riverbank State Park. I’m pretty sure it’s one of the same ones that hatched in Washington Square Park that had that live video feed from NYU a few years ago. I’d seen one of them previously in a small park on Fort Washington Avenue called J. Hood Wright Park. It was eating a rat or a squirrel or something. Today, the hawk had a tuft of fur or cotton in its mouth when we first saw it. I moved in slowly to take a few pictures. I didn’t want to spook it, or get attacked by it. It got tired of being eyeballed, though and took off.
It was a beautiful day with beautiful weather. I’m sad the weekend is over.
It’s hard to believe that my wife and I have been married for 15 years. Well, more than 15 years now. Our anniversary was on the 23rd of last month. It seems like after that much time you might get tired of someone, but I still find her fascinating and I love being with her and helping her succeed. She’s an amazing person and I’m lucky to have her in my life.
We celebrated by going out to dinner at Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City and by going up One World Trade Center to the One World Observatory. We’d been to Old Homestead before, on a previous anniversary years ago, and it was still an amazing meal and an amazing experience. It’s pricey, but worth it, and I highly recommend trying the place out if you’re in the city as a tourist or for a holiday.
According to my mom, I went to the top of one of the old Twin Towers (the old World Trade Center), but I don’t remember it, so the view was really impressive. Everything looked so far away and inconsequential from up there. And it was quiet. It was like being in another place and the city was just a bunch of toys down below us. It was weird going back down the elevator (which took us from the basement to the 104th floor in 47 seconds) into the bustle of the city. It was unfortunately a bit cloudy and rainy when we were there, but that just means we have an excuse to go back again.
It has been an amazing 15 years and I’m looking forward to all the anniversaries to come. I love you, babe!
Central Park, New York City. July 2019.
January 7th, 2021
January in New York City is always rough looking and the Bronx being what it is, it looks especially hellish at that time of year. This was shortly after riot season ended. There was a water main break and a lot of businesses along this stretch were flooded.
There’s been a lot of new development along Jerome Ave and I had this idea that the arson along these two blocks and the flooding shortly after were part of a coordinated effort to get small businesses to move out so bigger developments could move in. Honestly, it would be better if that happened. The area could use some new buildings with new businesses that aren’t car audio shops.
I don’t understand why there are so many car repair shops and audio shops along this stretch of road. It turns traffic into a mess, is noisy, isn’t attractive, and prevents more worthwhile businesses from opening up that would make the neighborhood more livable, like restaurants, cafes, departments stores, gyms… hell… anything at all but more car oriented shops.
Bradley Farless 